Is a Sewer Scope Inspection Worth It?

You're buying a house and getting hit up for all kinds of inspections - a home inspection, a radon inspection, a pest inspection and now a sewer scope inspection?!? So how do you figure out if a sewer scope is worth it? In this video Mike Vakos shows us a sewer scope inspection that reveals roots starting to penetrate the lines twenty-one feet in. This is information that can help negotiate with the seller, avoid buying the house or start saving up for a sewer line repair.

Is a Sewer Scope Inspection Worth the $250?

In order to decide whether or not a sewer scope inspection is worth it, you need to know how much it costs and weigh that against how much it could cost to replace damaged sewer lines.  A sewer scope inspection with Tri-County Inspections costs $250. According to several sources the cost to replace the main sewer line that extends into a street averages $3,000 with excessive trenching costing up to $25,000.

Most new homeowners don't think about sewer lines so it may seem unnecessary to get a sewer scope inspection, but did you know that all the lateral sewer lines connecting a home to the public sewer are the homeowner's responsibility?  When these lines break or get backed-up, repairing those lines is an expensive project. In a previous post, "Why Add a Sewer Scope Inspection to Your Home Inspection?" we discus the biggest issues with sewer pipes: age, corrosion and roots. However, there are several other causes of sewer line blockage and damage including:

• ground settling shifts the soil around the pipe and breaks the pipe - from increased traffic, like construction, or typical shifts and ground settling
• older pipes corrode and collapse
• joints where pipes connect can erode and allow water and sewage seepage that can break sections of pipe
• sewer lines can sag with unfavorable soil conditions causing the pipe to bow which will result in continuous blockage
• grease, fats and debris cause many sewer line issues and clogged lines